AVCHD into iMovies

I have a Panasonic HC-X900. I want to import my AVCHD into iMovies. Is there any way to do this without using a 3rd party AVCHD converter like iOrgSoft? Thank you

have you followed the steps described in the manual?
http://help.apple.com/imovie/#mov39f84bc2
and, no, no 3rd party tools needed.
make sure:
• no 1080/60p or 1080/50p was in use (=not supported by 'actual' iMovie11)
• no 'mixed' formats on one media: do not record AVCHD and mpeg4/iFrame on a single media (SDcard)

Similar Messages

I've got AVCHD into iMovie '09 and edited it, now how do I see it on the TV

OK, so I got the AVCHD off my new Canon Vixia HFS100 (no problem there) and have successfully edited the video, adding titles, etc. Now what? Can't export it back to the camcorder and view it. Tried loading this ENORMOUS file (70Gb for 11 minutes) to my iBook and playing it via cables to the TV but it was very choppy and not very good quality. Tried burning it to DVD but the downcoding was so steep that the quality was awful. I've heard that apple TV might permit streaming of high def video. I've heard that I can burn AVCHD directly to DVD as a AVCHD file which is viewable on certain bluray players. Any other ideas? I know I can hook the camcorder directly up to the really sweet Sony highdef TV, but what about the stupid scenes that you want to edit out before you view the images. Hard to believe that there isn't a means to take, edit, and view HD video by now.

No unfortunately it won't open in quicktime either. It does the same thing that Imovie does, separates it into two file folders audio and video, and if i select video it opens to reveal 8 files that cannot be selected. VIDEO_TS.BUP, VIDEO_TS.IFO, VIDEO_TS.VOB,VTS_01_0.BUP, VTS_01_0.IFO, VTS_01_1.VOB, VTS_01_2.VB, VTS_01_3.VOB. All of which cannot be opened or selected.
Opening it in Idvd and folllowing your suggestion works and I get a format code of NTSC. Is that the same? Thank you for your time and response.
CaCanuck

Importing Sony AVCHD into iMovie - "voodoo" codec?

I have recently purchased a new Sony TG1 HD camcorder which records AVCHD files onto Memory Sticks. I would like to archive this footage on an external HD and would like to use iMovie08 to import and save this footage. Obviously I want to save this footage as an exact digital negative ie uncompressed and exactly in the same format as it was originally recorded. In going over some old posts I found the term "voodoo" codec used to imply that iMovie08 is not capable of saving this footage properly as some strange codec is employed and as such some degradation to the original footage occurs. It was stated that only Final Cut Express (or Pro) was capable of saving the footage in the exact same quality as it was originally recorded in ie lossless. Any comments?
Thanks
Gregg
Message was edited by: buzzlulu

AppleMan
Thanks for the reply. At present I am already doing as you suggested - creating a disk image of each full Memory Stick and saving these for archival purposes.
I am still curious to learn more about how iMovie08 converts the AVCHD files as compared to FileMaker Express. If I want to transcode the files into a usable format ie H.264(MPEG4) than will iMovie output the same result (from a quality standpoint) as Final Cut Express? Furthermore if I want to watch these recordings in full quality I can easily attach the Sony TG1 to my HD TV via HDMI. If iMovie transcodes these original files to MPEG4 and these were played back on my TV (via a media player) would they be of the same quality as those played back by directly attaching the camera to the TV as mentioned above?
Thanks
Gregg
Message was edited by: buzzlulu

Importing AVCHD and DCIM folders into iMovie that someone has sent me. They live on my desktop. How do I bring them into an event library?

Someone has sent me the AVCHD and DCIM folders to import into iMovie. They live on my desktop. How do I bring them into an event library?

DCIM contains only stills.jpg ...
AVCHD is a highly complex file structure:
the 'video iself' is within STREAM as .mts, plus corresponding .cpi files in the CLIPINF ...
if the structure is intact, you go via File/Import/Camera Archive …
WITHOUT such a complete structure, the mts are not readable for iM and the automatic conversion routines don't get triggered. you have to manually convert/rewrap with 3rd party tools.-
the pics/jpegs can be imported via Finder/drag'n drop.-

Importing AVCHD .MTS and .M2TS files (Sony HDR-SR1) into iMovie 08

I've read numerous other threads about trying to get these files into iMovie 08 but I'm still having problems.
I can plug my camcorder in just fine and have it import directly off there. But for older video files that I took with this camcorder I have two folders. One with just the .MTS files that I pulled off the camcorder. And the other with the YYYYMMDDHHMMSS (.modd & .m2ts) files that I archived (using my sony software) on my pc way back when I was using my PC for video editing.
I created a .DMG that I copied everything from my camcorders HD to. I was able to mount this and iMovie 08 worked just like when I plug my camcorder in. But my problem comes when I try to work with the older .MTS and .M2TS files that I backed up. I was hoping that I could just put them in the
DMGIMAGE\AVCHD\BDMV\STREAM folder and have it import just like before but no luck there. Any ideas as to how I can go about pulling these old raw video files to work with in iMovie? Thanks.
Message was edited by: Billy McQueary

Welcome to the  Discussion Forums.
You might try voltaic to convert these files before adding them to imovie

Why do I have to make disk image of AVCHD to import into iMovie?

iMovie imports AVCHD format file structure from the camera quite easily. (or so I hear, I have not done so myself yet). I have footage from the camera saved to an external hard disk which I want to import into iMovie08. I am a newbie to Apple/Mac things. From these fora I learned that I need to make a disk image of the AVCHD directory and mount it. I did that and it seems to work.
But this process is painful. For the 12Gig save I made on 27Jan08, the disk utility took forever to make a disk image. It failed once complaining lack of disk space. I thought the firewire external disk was overwhelmed by IO and copied the directory to the internal disk, and made a disk image. I thought it was hung after about 15 minutes killed the diskutility. I had a corrupted image file. Then left diskutility running overnight and seems to have finished the job. This morning iMovie looked at the disk image and is estimating it is going to take 3 hours to bring it in. May be it is transcoding to a more editable format like mpeg-4 or something.
Why do I have to jump through so many hoops to make iMovie recognize the AVCHD structure? Why can't I just drag a AVCHD directory into iMovie and make it read it? If I can reclaim the 24 gigs in the internal disk at the end of the process, I guess I can live with it. But, come on, copying 12 gigs over Firewire, another hour to make a disk image... I was expecting better user experience than this. (Did I mention I am newbie for Apple? Recent refugee from the vistaland)

AppleMan1958 wrote:
I would not recommend waiting until you have 12GB of AVCHD (which might import as 120GB of AIC). You could lose it all if your camera is dropped. I suggest you get in the habit of importing from your camera on a regular basis.
I agree, it is not a good idea to accumulate so much footage in the camera. But these were downloaded from the camera way back before I even bought the iMac. At that time, the only device that can deliver 1920x1080 video to my shiny 50inch TV in the living room was the camcorder! (and the OTA antenna). So I kept the clips in the camcorder, even after taking regular backups to the hard disk. That way I can show the clips to friends and family in full HD glory!
BTW 12 Gig is just 2 hours in HD. It is not much. I dread bringing my second backup 4 hours of our trip to Anguilla, St Marten etc. We all know HD requires ooodles and oodles of data and storage. I am not really complaining about the disk usage. My most important beef was: iMovie imports AVCHD from the camera easily. But it is unable to start from a AVCHD folder in the internal hard disk and start reading it. I can burn a DVD-ROM with AVCHD directory in the root and it reads it. I can copy AVCHD folder to the root of a thumbdrive and it reads it.
But put the very same AVCHD deeply nested in the external drive it barfs.
I am going to experiment after going home. I will create a symbolic link to the AVCHD folder from the root of the external disk. Heck, I am root here, I can even do an ln -s /nested/directory/deep/in/the/external/drive/AVCHD /AVCHD
and see if I can fool iMovie to import the files without creating a diskimage. If someone who has immediate access to iMac would do the experiment it would be very helpful

Imovie import and converts avchd into AIC involved .mov

I am new to this and want to start off on the right foot. I noticed after importing 3 events this weekend from my HDR-CX12 (Sony) I have associated .mov files in the event directory under ~/Movies/IMovie/Events/ This concerns me since from my understanding AIC is great for editing but not so great for viewing. I wish to view these clips on a Popcorn Hour or other platforms.
Should I keep the original files that the camcorder records in another directory?
I see IMovie can export, but can it only export projects (not events)?
I have fooled around with MPEG stream and found that going from AIC into another format will lose a lot of its quality not to mention the hassle of getting it to work (video or audio sometimes is lost if the format wasn't chosen correctly). What is a common work flow pattern people follow?

AIC is actually a great codec for viewing - except that it is very large, so you can't really use it on an iPod or over the internet.
Definitely keep the original AVCHD files that the camera records. The best way to do this is to create a disk image on your hard drive that is just large enough for the files. Move the entire contents of your camcorder into the disk image. You should be able to mount this disk image and import from it into iMovie as if it were a camera. Once you have it working, you can reformat your camera and be ready for the next shoot. If you wish you can burn your disk image to DVD for additional backup.
General workflow:
Shoot in AVCHD
Import into iMovie creates AIC
Edit in AIC (You don't have to know this. iMovie does it under the covers.)
Share your movie in h.264 for viewing on computer, TV, iDVD, iPod, iTunes,etc.
iMovie can only export projects.
One exception is that iDVD can make a DVD of Events. The Events from iMovie will show up in the Media Browser of iDVD. If you want to watch unedited footage, you can do this.
Message was edited by: AppleMan1958

Can I import avchd videos from canon into Imovie'11

can I import avchd videos from canon into Imovie'11

actually the only error in the system logs I see is..
11-02-27 10:59:49 AM iMovie[90311] NSEnumerateMapTable: map table argument is NULL

Cannot import AVCHD from Sony SR-7 into iMovie 09

Well - looks like I join the ranks. I can no longer import HD format movies from my Sony SR-7 into IMovie 09 since I upgraded to version 8.0.5. Does anyone know what happened? iMovie 09 worked beautifully until the upgrade. I can import SD and digital photos just fine. iMovie 09 (8.0.5) no longer "sees" the HD files on the camera. I'd really appreciate some help here.

Hi sblackatc - and welcome to Discussions!
I have the same camera which works perfectly with iMovie '09 version 8.0.5
iMovie '09 will not recognise HD (AVCHD) footage if you also have SD (MPEG-2) footage on the camera. You must erase all SD video from the camera, after archiving/importing it to your Mac. The camera will then be able to see your HD video. See this Apple article:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1793
If this is not the problem try this:
After connecting to your Mac via USB, open the LCD monitor on the camera. It should show a menu page labelled "USB Select". On this menu touch the item labelled "Computer" with the hard disk icon (not the memory stick icon). The camera will then show that it is connecting with the computer. Wait a while for iMovie to connect and generate the thumbnails for each clip. You should then be able to import and/or archive all clips on the camera.
Hope this helps!
John

AVCHD Import into Imovie

So here is my problem, and it a big one. I recorded some video with a sony camera that records AVCHD ( .mts ) So I imported into imovie first try everything was great! So i recored more and now i want to import the footage. Same camera Same computer same program. I connect the usb to the camera and computer. Click connect usb on the camera just like i did before. Now in imovie I see the little circle spinning for a few seconds then quits. No window pops up. Then I click the camera button in imvoie and my webcam comes up. My camera is showing up on my desktop. I dont understant Before I could esaily import every thing. Now I cant? What is the problem? I browsed ever forum on this topic and cant find anything like it... Please help. Im using imoive 09.

Any ideas? Without converting, say to mp4 or something?

I put a AVCHD movie into iMovie '09, and now . . .

I would like to export it to iPhoto '09. When it is imported into iMovie '09, is it changed in such a way that it can be put into iPhoto? If not, is there another program that will make this possible.
Thanks, Rick

All your imported video is interlaced. iMovie '08, '09 and '11 is very bad with interlaced video: It throws away half the resolution. This is called "Single-field editing".
Your best bet would be to get a used copy of iMovie '06, as part of iLife '06.
iMovie '06 can read your projects, edits and all. It's also similar to iMovie 5, so you will feel right at home.

I am trying to add movies from my Panasonic lumix to I photo but they aren't showing up. If I try to import into Imovie they also don't show up on the sd card as importable movies. I am using I photo 9.2 on 10.6.8 and never had a problem before.

My camera can be set to record as motion JPEG or light AVCHD. It was set for AVCHD. Could that be affecting it? If so, can you think of any way I can load these. I am trying to add them to an IMovie I started from a different source.

Stevomacrocket wrote:
I had this problem.
The answer is to close iphoto (you might have to force quit iphoto if it starts automatically when you connect the camera or insert the SD card) and open imovie.
Imovie then presents an import page which easily imports the video into imovie.
It is a real bad idea to "force Quit" iPhoto - if it has any update activity going on that you interrupt you can corrupt your library an close data or even photos - Force quit should ONLY be used in an emergency where there is no other alternative and you are positive that nothing is going on in iPhoto
LN

Importing movies from Sony Handycam HDR-SR11 into iMovie HD 6.0.3

I am unable to open the .MTS clips in iMovie HD 6.0.3 that I've copied to my hard drive via a USB connection from the HDR-SR11. This would be my first time attempting to use iMovie and have troubleshooted to no avail. I am unable to find a clear answer as to whether the movies from this model Sony camcorder would work with my current version of iMovie. Would I need to upgrade and purchase iLife '09?

Hi swimnfred7 - welcome to the forum!
.MTS files are AVCHD- based - a form of MPEG format. iMovie HD needs .dv formatted material, imported into iMovie via a firewire connection. It may be possible to convert your files to .dv (not certain about that) using:
MPEG StreamClip (free):
http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/video/mpegstreamclip.html
Apple MPEG2 PlayBack ($20):
http://www.apple.com/quicktime/mpeg2/
It may be that you will instead need to use the latest imovie variant - iMovie 09.
I'm sure others will help you out here.

What is the best workflow for AVCHD with iMovie/iDVD 09?

I am recording AVCHD video with a Sony HDR-SR11. I don't have a blu-ray burner yet, so I want to create the highest quality DVD's I can from this source video using my MacBook and the software I have (iMovie 09 and iDVD 09).
Currently I am importing the video clips into iMovie 09 at the 1920x1200 setting. After creating a 16:9 movie I choose "Share to Media Browser" and export at the highest setting I see (I think 1280x720, I'm not on the MacBook at the moment).
After a long while this completes and I launch iDVD 09. I drag the movie I exported above into the theme and burn at Professional Quality. After another long wait I have my DVD but I'm quite disappointed with the video quality.
Even taking into account that DVD is not a hi-def disc format it seems like the video quality should be better. Is there a better workflow I should be using with this combination of software? Maybe some way to avoid scaling/compressing the video twice? Or is this as good as it gets with iMovie 09 and iDVD 09? I may have access to iMovie 06, if that would help.
Thanks,
Gerald

3) Share to Media Browser with Best Quality
For folks like me that wonder exactly how did you do this:
(I don't know what Media Browser is yet.)
I did this: (I got some warnings - did you?)
In iMovie:
Selected my 1280x720 "HD" video in the Project panel,
Share->Media Browser...
- if HD is greyed out, you already shared this size to Media Browser, go to next step,
or select "Remove from Media Browser, check HD, click Remove"
- if HD is not greyed, but is not check marked,
select Computer icon, then uncheck Mobile, Med, and Lrg, leaving only HD checked
With HD checked, Click Publish - watch "Creating the HD movie.."
Bring up iDVD, Select Create a new project, browse for location and enter project name
If Themes at bottom right is not selected (Dark), click it
Double click a theme - for example under Revolution, choose Chapters.
At bottom right, select Media, At top right, select Movies
Under iMovie should be your iMovie project - mine says "My First Project" (I didn't name iMovie proj)
Select your iMovie Project,
you should see a thumb of your video with dimension, size listed
(movie duration is down at bottom right.)
Drag the thumbnail onto the iDVD preview window (I don't what that window is officially called)
drop it under the theme title "Revolution Chapters" for this example
You should see a running preview of your video with the project name below it.
Important step: Project->Project Info, Under Encoding: select Best or Professional Quality
Ok re-encoding warning, close Proj Info window.
File->Burn DVD... Popup says "Warnings in Project", select Continue Burning
Insert DVD (Apple designed sharp edges on the SuperDrive on purpose?)
I used Staples 4x DVD-RW first.
Watch process proceed till DVD is ejected...Don't believe "Time remaining: about one minute"
My DVD-R120 player-recorder would not load the disk. It played fine on iMac, a WindowsXP laptop, and a Windows XP desktop. This DVD machine only likes old 1X RW media for some reason. I wish someone made a standalone Blu-Ray recorder/player. I burned a second copy to some gold Sony 1X/2X DVD-RW media, and this disk played fine.
Picture quality is soft compared to HD material, but the moire patterns on some edges is only somewhat reduced over the Share to iDVD version. This Share to Media Browser version is acceptable for folks that won't go to Vimeo or YouTube to see my videos in HD.

What is the best workflow for AVCHD and iMovie/iDVD 09?

I am recording AVCHD video with a Sony HDR-SR11. I don't have a blu-ray burner yet, so I want to create the highest quality DVD's I can from this source video using my MacBook and the software I have (iMovie 09 and iDVD 09).
Currently I am importing the video clips into iMovie 09 at the 1920x1200 setting. After creating a 16:9 movie I choose "Share to Media Browser" and export at the highest setting I see (I think 1280x720, I'm not on the MacBook at the moment).
After a long while this completes and I launch iDVD 09. I drag the movie I exported above into the theme and burn at Professional Quality. After another long wait I have my DVD but I'm quite disappointed with the video quality.
Even taking into account that DVD is not a hi-def disc format it seems like the video quality should be better. Is there a better workflow I should be using with this combination of software? Maybe some way to avoid scaling/compressing the video twice? Or is this as good as it gets with iMovie 09 and iDVD 09? I may have access to iMovie 06, if that would help.
Thanks,
Gerald

I am recording AVCHD video with a Sony HDR-SR11. I don't have a blu-ray burner yet, so I want to create the highest quality DVD's I can from this source video using my MacBook and the software I have (iMovie 09 and iDVD 09).
Currently I am importing the video clips into iMovie 09 at the 1920x1200 setting. After creating a 16:9 movie I choose "Share to Media Browser" and export at the highest setting I see (I think 1280x720, I'm not on the MacBook at the moment).
After a long while this completes and I launch iDVD 09. I drag the movie I exported above into the theme and burn at Professional Quality. After another long wait I have my DVD but I'm quite disappointed with the video quality.
Even taking into account that DVD is not a hi-def disc format it seems like the video quality should be better. Is there a better workflow I should be using with this combination of software? Maybe some way to avoid scaling/compressing the video twice? Or is this as good as it gets with iMovie 09 and iDVD 09? I may have access to iMovie 06, if that would help.
Thanks,
Gerald

AVCHD into iMovies

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